5 famous quotes of the revolutionary leader
HAVANA: Fidel Castro was legendary for his fiery speeches, a hallmark of his iron-fisted rule and tireless defiance of American “imperialism”. Here are five of his famous quotes:
CASTRO kicked off his revolutionary career with a botched attack on the Moncada military barracks in 1953, failing to kindle an uprising against dictator Fulgencio Batista.
It was an in- auspicious start for a man who would go on to become one of history’s most famous revolutionaries. Defending himself at his trial, he put a brave front with an iconic speech.
“Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me.”
IN 1960, the year after he came to power, Castro first uttered what would become one of his trademark rallying cries.
“Fatherland or death!” he shouted at a memorial for victims killed in the explosion of the freighter La Coubre in Havana harbour, which Castro blamed on American sabotage.
He would repeat it across the decades. Later, he used a similar slogan loaded with Cold War animosity: “Socialism or death!”
CASTRO stuck to his defiant tone in the Cold War’s most dangerous moment — the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
“The imperialists want us to stop being revolutionaries to make peace. We will never stop being revolutionaries. We will never lower our flag,” he said.
AT times, it seemed Castro would rule his island forever.
“I will never retire from politics, from the revolution or from my ideas. Power is slavery, and I am its slave,” he said in 1991.
EVEN after handing power to his younger brother Raul in 2006, he continued to publish diatribes and guide policies. But, he seemed to say goodbye last April at his final Communist Party congress.
“Soon, I’ll end up like all the rest. Everyone’s turn comes.” AFP
in 2004